Mail Order Mistake (14 page)

The five one dollar coins were clenched in her fist.  She really needed to put them
up where she wouldn’t lose them, but she was too content sitting beside him.  There’d
be plenty of time to worry about finances tomorrow when he wasn’t home and couldn’t
watch her do it.

Before bed that evening, she tucked the coins away on the dresser wrapped in a clean
handkerchief.  She’d carry that to the mercantile with her the next morning.  Maybe
she should think about what Angela had said about sewing for the miners.  She didn’t
want to make Wesley feel like he didn’t make enough money though.  She’d think of
something.

She removed her dress and climbed into bed beside Wesley.  When winter came, she wouldn’t
be able to sleep without a nightgown, but for as long as she could, she’d make him
happy this way.

After they’d made love, she laid awake long into the night, trying to figure out how
she was going to make the small household budget be enough, while still saving money
for a rainy day.
  She wouldn’t be able to be content in her marriage as long as she was panicking
about money, and she wouldn’t be able to stop panicking about money until she had
some saved.

*****

After Malinda had finished doing the breakfast dishes, she
left for the
mercantile the following morning.  Ellen still came over to see her frequently, but
she was busy now that she’d started volunteering at the orphanage and didn’t make
it over every day. 

It was a short walk, and she enjoyed wandering slowly through the streets of the small
town.  She passed both the bank and the sheriff’s office, looking over at them.  She
wondered if it would bother Wesley if she popped in during the day.  She looked at
the building where Wesley worked for a minute before wandering in.

Wesley was sitting at the desk in the office, and there was a man lying on the cot
in the single jail cell sleeping.  Wesley looked up when she walked in.  “Well, hi
there!”

Malinda smiled and walked over to him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.  “Hi.”

“What brings you this way?”  Wesley’s grin told her he was happy to see her. 

“I was on my way to the mercantile and when I saw the jail, I thought I’d stop in
and see you for a minute.”  She looked around.  “I’ve never actually been in a jail
before.”

Wesley laughed.  “That’s a good thing.”  He looked around him.  “Not much to see really. 
There’s the jail.”  He pointed to the cell.  “This is my desk.”  He shrugged.  “You’ve
had the entire tour now.”

She laughed.  “So do you have to stay here as long as there’s someone in jail?”

He shook his head.  “I have a part time deputy who comes in at night and on the weekends
when someone is in jail.”  He pointed to the sleeping man.  “He’s just sleeping off
a drunk.  I’ll let him out before coming home for dinner tonight.”

Malinda studied the sleeping man.  “Do you have drunks in here often?”

“Usually just on the weekends.  He was wandering through town drunk this morning,
so I brought him in.”  Wesley shrugged.  “He
was yelling something about a big find.  Probably struck gold and got drunk to celebrate.”

Malinda nodded.  Even with Wesley there, she felt uncomfortable in the jail.  “I need
to run to the mercantile.  Thanks for the tour.”

He laughed.  “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

She wandered out onto the street and looked around the town, setting off toward the
mercantile again. 
Once Malinda reached the
m
ercantile, she tried to keep her eyes off of the things that weren’t true necessities. 
There was some pretty fabric in the dry goods section she would have loved to take
home with her.  Wesley loved pretty things on her, and she wanted to make a dress
out of it so badly
so she could watch his face light up when she wore it. 

She shook her head.  No.  She had to concentrate on the things they truly needed,
not on things she just wanted.  “I need three pounds of beans, a pound of flour, a
pound of sugar and a pound of rice, please.”  She forced herself to look at the clerk
at the mercantile, wishing she wasn’t so shy.

While he was filling her order,
Malinda
felt herself drawn as if by a magnet to the table with the fabric laid out.  She
ran her finger along the lavender fabric with the tiny little flowers.  She could
see just how she’d make the dress up, and it would be
beautiful.
 
She wanted the fabric so badly she could taste it.

While she was looking another
lady
came to stand at the table.  “It’s a beautiful fabric.  I’ve been in here eve
ry day this week looking at it,” said a sweet voice beside her.

Malinda’s eyes raised and she saw a young woman standing beside her.  “It’s beautiful.”
 
She studied the woman beside her, noting her dress.  It was very fashionable, but
the colors didn’t suit her.  The lavender on the table would suit her perfectly.

The woman sighed.  “I’m Elizabeth Chandler.”

“Malinda Harris.”
  Malinda offered her hand.

“Oh!  You’re Ellen’s sister, aren’t you?  My husband is the vice president of Patrick’s
bank.”
 

Malinda looked at her in surprise.  If her husband was the vice president of the bank,
then she could certainly afford the fabric.
  “So why haven’t you purchased the fabric?” 
Malinda truly didn’t understand why people with money didn’t just buy everything they
wanted.
  She knew if she had the kind of money to do it, she would buy up all the fabric
in the store.  Well, except the banana yellow color.  That was hideous.

“Unfortunately, I’m not much of a seamstress.  I have to buy my clothes ready-made.” 
She pointed across the store.  “Those are what I have to choose from.”

Malinda looked at the ready-made dresses in surprise.  They were all so ugly
,
she hadn’t even noticed them.  “Oh, those are dreadful!”  She clapped her hand over
her mouth.  She hadn’t meant to say that.  “I’m sorry.”

Elizabeth laughed.  “No, they are dreadful.  I’ll never understand why Mr. Mills doesn’t
stock pretty dresses.”  She frowned
,
looking down at the pretty fabric.  “What this town needs is someone who can sew.”

Malinda chewed on her lip for a moment before saying, “I can sew.”  She stepped back
and made a slow circle.  “I made this dress.”
  By showing off her skills, she knew she was offering to sew for the woman.  She
had no idea how Wesley would feel about it, but she knew they needed the money
so she was willing to give being a businesswoman a try.

Elizabeth’s eyes grew wide as she took in Malinda’s dress.  “That’s beautiful.  I
love the little embellishments around the collar.”  She looked Malinda up and down. 
“How much would you charge me to make a dress, just like the one you’re wearing, in
this fabric?”  She lifted the pretty calico print out of the bin.

Malinda had no answer.  She walked across the store to look at the cost of the dresses
there. 
They were each five dollars, so mentally calculating cost of fabric, Malinda walked
backed over to Elizabeth.  “If you buy the fabric, I’ll make it for three dollars. 
Would that work for you?”

Elizabeth nodded enthusiastically.  “That would be wonderful!  I’ll pay the same as
I’d pay for one of the hideous dresses, but I’ll get what I want.”  She picked up
the fabric and walked to the front of the store with Malinda walking behind her. 
“How long do you think it will take you?”

Malinda shrugged.  “If you can come over to be
measured
this afternoon, I could have it done by Friday at the latest.
  Maybe a fitting on Thursday?
”
  She wasn’t sure how Wesley would feel about it, but she loved the idea of making
a whole three dollars on her own.  And if Elizabeth liked what she did, maybe she
could get more jobs.

Malinda took home her groceries and the fabric.  She heated up the beans and cornbread
she’d fixed for dinner the night before, and quickly baked some cookies she
c
ould serve to Elizabeth when she came to be measured.

While the food was heating up, she put the groceries away and hid the fabric in the
spare room.  She wanted to think about how to broach the subject with Wesley before
he saw the fabric. 

By the time Wesley got home for lunch at noon, she had his lunch prepared and a small
basket of cookies for him to take back to the sheriff’s office that afternoon.  He
had a sweet tooth, and she loved to send him little snacks to take
to work
. 

“I made you a basket of cookies for work this afternoon,” she told him when he sat
down.

“Really?  What did I do to deserve that?”
  His grin told her how appreciative he was of the sweets.

She laughed.  “You let me go get more flour and sugar at the mercantile, so I had
everything I needed to make them.”  She spooned up a bite of her beans and watched
as he took a huge bite out of his cornbread that he’d smothered with maple syrup. 
He couldn’t seem to eat anything without adding some kind of sweetener to it.

Once he was finished eating, h
e thanked her sweetly for the basket of cookies and kissed her on the cheek on his
way out the door.  “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Stay safe,” she responded.  She’d started worrying about how dangerous his job could
be.  Yes, now he was putting small boys in jail for stealing gum
drops
, but there was a good chance it could get dangerous.  She was afraid every minute
he was gone during the day.

Once he’d left, she rushed through the dishes and had them finished when she heard
the knock on the door.  She wiped her hands on her apron and hurried through the house
to the front door.  Opening it wide, she invited Elizabeth into the house and took
her back to the spare room where she had her sewing things set up. 
“You want me to use the dress I’m wearing to model it after, right?” she asked as
Elizabeth removed her dress so she could be measured in her petticoat and corset.

Elizabeth nodded, her hands held out straight at the sides.  “Would it cost extra
to have you put the little flowers on the collar like you did with yours?”

Malinda w
ished she could say yes to that
because she’d love the extra money, but she knew she was already asking as much as
she felt comfortable asking.  “No, I was already planning that.  Do you want them
to be lavender with green leaves to match the fabric?”

“Oh yes, please.  That sounds pretty.”

“No problem.”  Malinda used the string she had set aside and then carried it over
to the yard stick she had.  It wasn’t the most efficient way of doing things, but
it would have to work.  She simply didn’t have the money for a measuring tape yet.

She jotted down the numbers and consulted the paper pattern she had bought in Beckham
before their train trip.  “That’s all I need.”

“And you want me to come back Thursday for a fitting?” Elizabeth asked, getting back
into her dress. 

“Let’s say around three in the afternoon?  That should have me finished with everything
but the hem and the embroidery.”  Malinda walked Elizabeth to the kitchen.  “Would
you care for some cookies and tea?”

Elizabeth looked at the water already boiling on the stove.  “That would be nice if
you don’t mind.”

Malinda smiled.  “I’d enjoy that as well.  Have a seat.”  She hurriedly fixed the
tea and put the cookies on the table. 

Elizabeth reached out and took a bite of one of the sugar cookies Malinda had made
that morning.  “These are wonderful!”

“I’m not much of a cook, but I love to bake.  Thankfully my husband has a sweet tooth
and he’ll eat anything I cook as long as I serve him something for dessert.”  Malinda
sighed.  “I burn
ed
dinner a couple of nights ago, and he ate every bite because he knew he had dessert
waiting for him.”

Elizabeth laughed.  “I’m so glad I don’t have to try to cook.  I grew up in a well-to-do
family, and it was always assumed I’d marry a man who would have maids.  Thank heavens
I fell for a man who was able to afford a
cook
from the first day we were together.  If he had to eat my cooking, just once, he
would forget about what society thinks and divorce me.”

Malinda grinned.  “I certainly understand that.  I never expected to marry a rich
man, but I spent a lot of time when I was growing up with my father helping on the
farm instead of in the house learning to do the things a wife does.  My sister tried
to teach me, but I was a dismal failure.”  She gestured to the kitchen around her. 
“Now I’m trying to make up f
or l
o
st time.”

“I’m so glad it didn’t work out for me that way.”  Elizabeth took another bite of
cookie.  “I may have you bake some cookies for me to serve at a ladies’ tea I’m having
next week.  There are several bankers’ wives who meet up every month and this time
it’s at my home.  I’m expected to serve refreshments and I usually have my cook do
it for me, but her cookies don’t compare to yours.”